Books

Lancashire poet Francis Thompson was born on 16th December 1859. He died in 1907.

Correlated Greatness

O nothing, in this corporal earth of man,
That to the imminent heaven of his high soul
Responds with colour and with shadow, can
Lack correlated greatness. If the scroll
Where thoughts lie fast in spell of hieroglyph
Be mighty through its mighty habitants;
If God be in His Name; grave potence if
The sounds unbind of hieratic chants;
All’s vast that vastness means. Nay, I affirm
Nature is whole in her least things exprest,
Nor know we with what scope God builds the worm.
Our towns are copied fragments from our breast;
And all man’s Babylons strive but to impart
The grandeurs of his Babylonian heart.

One of the great things about the Print on Demand explosion is that books are now available that have been out of print for many years. In some cases the books have been restored to their complete versions after many editions that have been tinkered with for one reason or another.

I’ve always been a bit mystified why publishers feel it is OK to tamper with someone’s autobiography, of all things! Either don’t publish it or publish as intended; add a preface if there are issues you disagree with but don’t mess with the author’s own text.

Hannah Whitall Smith is a well-loved author with several books in print. Unfortunately, her spiritual autobiography – The Unselfishness of God & How I Discovered It – usually appears in a mangled form because evangelical publishers don’t like the chapters in the middle of her faith journey that centre on universal restitution or salvation. Rather oddly, they have usually “disappeared” the offending chapters resulting in the flow of the book not making much sense.

I’m very grateful that someone has put the original 1903 text up on Lulu.com where it can be downloaded for free in PDF form or purchased as an inexpensive paperback. It is a very interesting read that takes us through Hannah’s spiritual development from her devout Quaker beginnings in the Pennsylvania of the 1830s, via the Brethren, her discovery of Christian Universalism, the Higher Life movement in England and Methodist Holiness ideals. She reflects on her fellowship with other believers, her doubts as her understanding is challenged, and on the wisdom of her old age at the beginning of the 20th Century in England. A fascinating document, now restored.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?contributorId=392070